A Song of Snow and Ashes

and gold lining the pages. She guessed this was the copy of the Book of Sol used for services.

  "My name is Eliora. I'm really rather confused. I thought Jomei informed you that I would be coming today. He even told me you would be expecting me at this time."

  He had a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "There must have been a miscommunication."

  "Well, I hope that won't happen again," she replied kindly, but fully aware of his tone.

  "My brother Jomei has been requesting that we aid you in your fight against this ShadowWalker."

  "My fight? 'This ShadowWalker?'" she thought. She lowered her eyes a bit and peered into the man's soul. The Darkness was slightly stronger than the Light.

  "We've been asking that he send us some guarantee that we will be working only with agents of the LightBearer, but so far I'm afraid none of his suggestions have been to the standards we would like to protect ourselves," he continued, fanning himself slightly but otherwise oblivious to her soul-search. "Should you have this guarantee, we'll put our resources and influence to your disposal as best we can."

  "I see," she replied, stopping the search and meeting his eyes. "Before we get down to business, though, I would like to ask you a few questions about your lovely temple," she said in a perfectly polite voice. Her eyes, however, were starting to get the same angry glint they had when she had taken over the Council on the solstice.

  "Oh, well, of course you may ask. We clerics take great pride in our temples, especially this main one. Does brother Jomei even have a proper temple?" he asked, disdain evident in his voice.

  "No, he does not, but I've seen the temples in my native land. Where do you get the money for all those lovely tapestries?" She half-expected him to take offense at this question, but he seemed eager to answer.

  "All the furnishings and improvements to our temples come from the donations and tithing of our congregation. It is a testament to the work we do here that our congregation is so generous."

  "Do you get any money from the local government?"

  "Of course not," he replied haughtily. "We keep religion and government separate to keep the Order free of political corruption."

  Now she felt she understood the head priest and the way the Order worked. In her native land, the tithes were taken in as part of the taxes and direct donations were strictly prohibited to try to keep the Order as objective as possible when advising the government. "Yes, I see. I have no more questions about your Order."

  "Well, I'm glad to have helped," he replied amiably, seemingly oblivious to her rising temper.

  "He's not going to listen to a thing I say," she thought. "I'm going to have to bluff him as I did the Council, but I have to be careful. The ShadowWalker may be in this very city, and I don't want to attract attention." She straightened up, set her shoulders back, met the priest's eyes and addressed him. "High Priest, why do you call this my fight, as though you are nothing but a bystander? Why do you use the proper title of ShadowWalker? Jomei does not, because as a priest of Light he fears the Darkness. Do you not fear the Darkness?"

  He looked quite taken aback at this sudden change of attitude. He flushed, then appeared to get angry. "I've been receiving messages for months now from Jomei telling me of these Avatars and this battle and frankly I don't believe a word of it. I'm honestly quite surprised that anyone showed up at this appointed time. No one should have been able to enter without my knowing it."

  She stared at him in disbelief. "You don't believe him? You don't believe your own god?"

  "My god has never mentioned anything like to this to me," he replied coldly.

  "When was the last time you actually tried praying?" she shot back.

  He stood up behind the desk. "That's none of your business," he snapped. "Now, you had better tell me exactly who you are, what you're doing here, and how you got here, or I'm going to call the guard in and have you arrested for trespassing."

  For a moment, she just couldn't react. This was so far outside her expectations that her mind and body seemed numbed.

  "Well?"

  She donned the shining Armor. "I am the LightBearer," she replied, her voice starting to rumble. "I am the Chosen Avatar of the Light One."

  Derry stumbled backwards.

  She was starting to glow slightly and her eyes turned white. "I am here to enlist the aid of your Order in fighting the ShadowWalker, Chosen Avatar of the Dark One. I got here through the magic I wield from the god. The ShadowWalker is making his plans, no doubt, and while the Hunters are loyal and determined, we do not have the connections and resources of the Order of Light. My Hunters are organized and willing, and I have a way to set a Mark on my allies that is impossible to imitate, duplicate, detect, or remove." She took a step forward. "High Priest Derry of the Order of Light, will you truly aid me in our battle against the forces of Darkness?"

  His mouth opened and closed a few times, and then his eyes rolled back in his head and he passed out.

  She blinked a few times. "This the head of the Order? Has this man ever actually felt the presence of his own god?" With a sigh, she changed back to her dress. She set him in the chair and opened up the drawers, looking for some sort of healing kit. When she found none, she opened the door of the study.

  "Excuse me?" she called to no one in particular.

  But in a moment, a sixty-something priestess emerged from an adjacent study. "Can I hope you?" she asked, puzzled.

  "Yes. I need smelling salts and a thick blanket brought here immediately."

  The priestess was clearly confused, but she walked down the hallway and in a few minutes returned with the requested items.

  "Thank you," she said graciously.

  The priestess bowed. "Of course, my Lady."

  "Wait, you know who I am?"

  "Indeed I do. Some of us take Jomei's messages more seriously than Derry does. You put the appropriate fear of god in him, I take it?"

  Eliora nodded. "I wish it hadn't come to that."

  "Don't be, not with Derry. When you come to the point that you want to make plans using the Order, ask him to call a meeting of the Elders."

  "I will do that."

  The priestess bowed again, and entered her study.

  Eliora put the blanket around the still unconscious head priest to guard against shock, then gently waved the smelling salts under his nose.

  He awoke with a start. "What? What happened?" Then he saw Eliora sitting in the chair. "Oh. Oh god."

  She just smiled. "We need to talk, High Priest. And I suggest you call of a meeting of the Elders."

  "Elders? Oh. Alright," he replied, still dazed. "It'll, er, take some time."

  "I can wait."

  "Oh." He pulled the blanket around him tightly and stood up. "Just wait here. I'll be back as soon as I can."

  In about an hour, a different acolyte knocked on the door and she was lead to a meeting room. There were thirteen clerics waiting for her, with Derry sitting at the head of the a long table, still wrapped in the blanket. The priestess in the adjacent study was present.

  Eliora took the vacant seat at the end of the table. Seeing that the head priest appeared to be in no condition to actually run the meeting, she took a deep breath, calmed herself, and started to explain the situation. She also took a quick peek at their souls, although she knew it was rude and intrusive. At the end of her explanation, about half looked surprised and nearly panicked, and the other half seemed to have expect this news and merely looked a bit apprehensive.

  Eldoris, the priestess who had the study adjacent to the head priest then took over the meeting and introduced all the Elders. Derry seemed content to huddle in his blanket and look miserable. Plans were made about what to do in Renfrew directly, messages were readied to be sent to the Orders of the other city-states, and after over three hours, the meeting was adjourned.

  "Thank you, Priestess Eldoris," Eliora said after the other clerics filed out, m
ost of them in a dazed state.

  "Thank you, child." She shut the door, leaving them alone in the room. "For much too long has our Order neglected its proper duties. Thank you for reminding us of where our loyalties should truly lie."

  "If it's not too personal a question, why aren't you the head of this Order? You seem much more qualified."

  "Politics, my Lady. His family is old and established. Mine is not."

  "I met an acolyte who bears a strong resemblance to Derry. Also politics?"

  "His youngest daughter, and in my unofficial opinion, completely unsuited to the Order. But I'm not in charge of these matters."

  "And unofficially you'll be in charge of this?"

  The old woman nodded. "There are those of us who still recognize what the Order is supposed to do, and recognize that High Priest Derry is completely unsuited for the task at hand. You may have to contend with his ego again."

  "I've had to do that rather a lot lately," she sighed. "I fear I'm getting good at it."

  Eldoris smiled. "Such is life, my Lady."

  "Thank you again. I must go now and report to the Hunters, and to Jomei."

  "Give him my regards."

  "I'll do that," she replied, bowed, and vanished.

  Nearly two weeks passed in Renfrew before Donnan managed to talk Aolani into meeting with his friends. They still met for tutoring, but their run in with the guard seemed to have bothered her in more ways than she was willing to talk about.

  "Aolani, what's wrong?" he asked as he walked her home. A light snow was falling, muffling the few sounds that came from the